


Pills

by BubblyShip



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gaster Blaster (Undertale), Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Gaster Blaster Sans (Undertale), Gasterblaster Sans - Freeform, Light Angst, Oneshot, UndertaleAu, gasterblaster, inspired by owl house, no relationships - Freeform, sans is on meds, sans transforms, toriel screws up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26252905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubblyShip/pseuds/BubblyShip
Summary: Toriel has noticed something about Sans. Every few weeks he comes home rather late, and sneaks something into his room. As it turns out, it's a bottle of pills.Thinking he was becoming addicted, she threw the medicine out.Wrong move.(Inspired by The Owl House)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 112





	Pills

Toriel knew drug addicts. As a teenager, she had to admit she had gotten into a bad crowd and become hopelessly addicted to cigarettes and a special monster drug. It took years of countless sessions, family support, and new friends to finally get herself a better life. Not her best time, Toriel would admit, but one she accepts as her past nevertheless. Now she aims to steer young teenagers down the right path, so they wouldn't have to go through what she did.

That's why, when she saw the signs in Sans, she was worried.

Sans was her dearest friend. After she ran to the ruins, he was the only person to talk to her. She loved him, as a friend, she was far too old to be dating someone young like him, but that only meant he was more vulnerable to the world.

It was a late night the first time she noticed. Since they had escaped to the surface, they all spent quite a few late game nights at each others houses.

Sans is a reserved man. She knew that, they all did. His calm and collected voice never broke volume, and making him angry seemed like an impossible feat. Sans didn't have a temper, it seemed.

But that's what worried her. It was natural to open up after time, to show more anger, yet she never saw any of that. No, what she saw instead were the signs she displayed in her youth. The way he always remained more distant, his late nights out, constant avoidance of what he was doing. Additionally, he'd lock himself away into his room from time to time, only to emerge the next morning like nothing happened. A few quick glimpses when he wasn't paying attention showed a hand shaking, or a foot tapping a little too quickly before she would excuse himself behind a door.

When the pills came, though, was when Toriel realized he might be suffering from addiction.

They were tucked into his hoodie pocket when he came home late again. Unnoticed until he had taken off the clothing and set it onto the couch to grab a snack, letting the white bag slip out. Oh, Toriel knew the bag, she knew what prescription pills looked like. It wasn't just one pill bottle, or two, no, it was filled to the brim with the same prescription. No one in their right mind would need that much medicine.

Toriel reached out her paw, ready to inspect and see what kind they were, but Sans had noticed by that point. His hand was fast, snatching it and ripping it away from her view before he shoved it back into his hoodie.

"What was that?" Toriel asked.

Sans looked over, moonlight sharply cutting across his face, causing it to glow under the night sky. "Nothing."

And so, Toriel took it into her own hands.

She waited until the inevitable training time to investigate. Whenever Papyrus went to cook with Undyne, he dragged his brother along, who loved him too much to say no. Really, a weakness for Sans, but a weakness she admired. There were so many bad families out there, it was good to see brothers who cared.

Their house was so odd when it was empty, Toriel setting down their spare key they had given her to look up towards Sans' room. She really hoped he wasn't suffering from drug addiction, it was a painfully dark road that was difficult to escape from.

His room was as messy as she thought, with socks thrown about and a soft, homemade tornado carrying a few pieces of garbage in a corner. She checked under his bare mattress, not there. After more searching, she found herself crouched over a dresser drawer, moving aside a few hoodies to find her goal. The white bag.

There were several bottles of pills at this point, and a good number of them were empty. That wasn't good. Just how many pills did he take per day? How far down the rabbit hole was he?

She lifted one of the bottles into the faint light of his dim room, inspecting the label. Monster pills, no doubt. Far more effective, but in turn, far more addicting. When your soul becomes dependent on a substance, it's easy to find yourself buying more and more until you eventually overdose. Thankfully, Toriel had been caught before she slipped that far, but it was something she had been dangerously close to. Now, it was her turn to help Sans before he finished walking down the path she turned from.

They were a prescription for... something. The name was long and confusing, and the description was lacking. They could do anything, really. Judging by how many bottles of pills there were, and how they were prescribed to him, he probably managed to hook up with a dealer. Which was a terrible sign. The worst influence would be someone that profited off of your suffering.

She should at least make sure she knew what they did. Toriel, while old, had been rather in touch with the old drug market, yet she didn't recognize them. Either they were new, or incredibly rare. Homemade, even, which could be far worse. Untrusted drugs could kill someone.

Toriel made a mental note to ask Alphys about the type of drug after she left before she stood, bag in hand. It'd be best if she took these to her house then disposed of them. If she threw them into his trash he might dig through it.

With that, she left, leaving behind the drawer now lacking his prescription pills.

~~~~~~

Toriel had brought everyone else to attention about this. When people were suffering from addiction, bringing their loved ones for support was always a good idea. If this was a prescription, Papyrus would have known, which only further proved Toriel's suspicions when he was surprised about his brother taking pills. No doubt something was going on, now she was certain it was addiction.

They were all antsy that day, waiting for Sans to arrive home from his job. Undyne was pacing by the couch, scratching her chin. Out of everyone, she was the most unsettled, and Toriel could see why. Her own mother suffered from an overdose, and hearing a friend of hers might have that same fate was concerning. They wanted to help Sans, they really did.

Sans arrived shortly after, looking... like a mess, per say. His hoodie was messy, his hands were shaking, and he had a frantic look in his eyes. His eyelights darted back and forth, back and forth.

"BROTHER, I-"

"Cool Paps."

Sans seemed to barely hear Papyrus before he was stalking up the stairs. The three monsters watched him from the living room, far more worried about his wellbeing than before.

"I think I should follow him," Toriel said, standing up.

"SANS?" Papyrus called.

Sans disappeared into his room, ignorant to the call from his brother. Toriel, realizing the situation was likely as bad as she assumed, quickly went up the stairs. His room was closed, but a simple turn of the doorknob allowed her access inside. Their bedrooms didn't have locks.

"Sans, dear, are you alright?" Toriel asked.

Sans shuffled across the carpet. "Fine, Tori."

His voice was gruff, worn, much like the clothes he wore. He looked so much worse today. Just how far into addiction was he?

He crouched down next to his dresser, using his body to shield it as he pulled it open. "I'm fine, really, you can leave," Sans said.

She watched as Sans searched his drawer. The lack of pills soon was obvious as he started to look once more, pushing aside different clothes. Once he failed to find the white bag again, Sans got desperate, starting to rip out his already disorganized clothes out of the drawers. Once they were emptied out, Sans practically dragged out the entire drawer, turning it upside down.

"Sans, it's okay," Toriel said, "We're here to-"

CRACK.

Well, that certainly wasn't expected.

A part of Sans' skull just _broke off_ , extending out from the back of his head. Sans turned towards Toriel, wide eyed, one of his teeth rather sharper than before.

"You took them?" He yelled.

"Sans, I- What?"

This hadn't been anticipated. Toriel knew drug addiction, she knew how people reacted, but this wasn't something that should happen, much less could happen. How did Sans' skull do that?

"Where are my f*cking **PILLS**?"

At the last word, another large crack echoed across his usually empty room as Sans screamed, a piece of bone jutting out from his back, piercing his hoodie. Toriel found herself frozen with utter fear.

She just made a big mistake.

Sans took one look at her face and his anger feel to utter terror, taking a step back as another echo of his body reforming crossed throughout the room. Whatever those pills were for, they weren't for addiction. It was to keep this from happening.

"SANS?" Papyrus asked.

The moment his brother appeared in the room, Sans covered his face to the best of his ability, retreating towards the window. A tail, halfway formed and cracking continuously with each formation of bone, snapped out, shattering it behind him.

"Wait-"

But Sans didn't listen. Instead, he pushed back against the window, letting his body fall backwards out of it. Undyne, the only one not frozen by fear, ran forward, looking out the window. She could see the brief glimpse of a running Sans before he disappeared into the woods, not once looking back.

Toriel could only stand there in her guilt, ignorant to the ring in her phone.

_Alphys: Sorry it took so long, just got back with the results. It's a combination of magic to keep a souls magic down, apparently it's one of a kind. They're meant to keep certain monsters whose magic is transforming from transforming randomly, especially since transforming magic is extremely dangerous_

_Alphys: Don't take his pills away, it might hurt him, he needs those to keep from transforming_

_Alphys: Toriel?_

Toriel didn't see the messages. Everyone looked at the open window, unable to make a sound. The moonlight cut across the broken shards of glass, creating a reflection of sparkling light across them.

Silence.


End file.
